An End to the Trump Twitter-verse

In the early hours of Jan. 20, the day he was supposed to be attending the inauguration of his successor Joe Biden, President Donald Trump said his goodbyes and thanked his supporters In an insipid ceremony, void of the pomp and circumstance the day’s later events would have. 

“Have a good life,” he said to the crowd right before he left the stage. “We will see you soon.”

He then turned around to climb the steps towards Air Force One astride his wife as the song “YMCA” by the Village People blared in the background. In what couldn’t have been a more fitting end to an unconventional presidency, Trump, a man who topped every headline for four years straight, was gone, as he flew down to his home at Mar a Lago, Fla. and a new administration took office. 

Stripped of his social media accounts, stripped of the Oval Office and stripped of his strongest allies including Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to some it may seem that Trump has lost any and all influence he had over American politics. However, that’s far from the case. 

With a looming impeachment trial in the senate and a staunchly loyal base driven by QAnon and election-related conspiracy theories, Donald Trump’s clutch over the Republican party remains strong as ever. 

Already, he and his allies have been readying to take the House and Senate in the 2022 midterms. 

Part of their strategy to keep Republican members of Congress in line despite his absence has been to threaten to primary them with pro-Trump candidates. 

This fear of being ousted by their own party for opposing the former president has undoubtedly led House and Senate Minority members to reconsider their stance on impeachment. 

Meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Jan. 28 at Mar a Lago and maintaining the support of RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Trump has made it clear that he remains poised on shaping the Republican party in a way that would support a potential run in 2024. 

While he lacks outlets such as Twitter that he used to rely on to spread his message, Donald Trump will without a doubt remain a force to contend with in American politics for years to come.